This special program, aimed at studio art and art history majors, offers students a unique opportunity to study in what is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance and one of the most important European centers of western art, science, literature and architecture: Florence, Italy. Join us here on our journey!

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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Second Home

Here
in Italy I have yet to feel that longing for home. Homesickness can’t happen if your home
is where you are. Here in
Florence, it has become second nature for my morning espresso. I don’t miss my
large American Cappuccino latte that I used to order. I don’t miss my car and driving to the
closest Stop & Shop. I love
taking long walks down the streets I recognize. I know these cobbled streets,
these churches, and I know where to go for the best Panini. You cannot feel a
loss of home, when you have found your second one.

Family
also makes a home. And luckily for
me, I have an Italian family.
However, I had never met them before, and more interesting, they do not
speak English. You can imagine my
excitement and nervousness for my invitation to Turino to visit family. It was not just my Turino family
though, it was also my Sicilian family that had traveled to Northern Italy to
visit me. I was overwhelmed and
did not know what to anticipate during the six-hour train ride.

Once
I stepped off the train at the Turino Centrale station, I quickly embraced my
Aunt Silvana and Uncle Franco. I
instantly felt at home.

They
never sat down until I was at complete comfort. All of my family welcomed me with a warm embrace, even if
they didn’t understand my choppy and sad excuse for Italian. All my family made sure I was given
plenty of gifts, well rested every morning, and my tummy was stuffed with
delicious home cooked food.

There
was always a constant sense of family importance. Story telling was always to be heard and food never ceased
at the dinner table. As long as
there were laughs, we all stayed seated together.
We would enjoy one another's company for hours.

It
was very hard for me to say goodbye after so much kindness and hospitality they
showed me. I felt so at home in a
place I had never been to, with people I had never met.

I
know I will leave Florence soon, but in the future I know I will come back. And
I will still know my cobbled streets and my shops and my espresso just as I do
now. Because after all, Italy is
my second home…